Suzerainty
Rights and obligations of a dominant state / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Suzerainty (/ˈsuːzərənti, -rɛnti/) includes the rights and obligations of a person, state, or other polity which controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state but allows the tributary state internal autonomy.[1][2] Where the subordinate party is called a vassal, vassal state, or tributary state, the dominant party is called a suzerain. The rights and obligations of a vassal are called vassalage, and the rights and obligations of a suzerain are called suzerainty.
Suzerainty differs from sovereignty in that the dominant power allows tributary states to be technically independent but enjoy only limited self-rule. Although the situation has existed in a number of historical empires, it is considered difficult to reconcile with 20th- or 21st-century concepts of international law, in which sovereignty is a binary concept, which either exists or does not. While a sovereign state can agree by treaty to become a protectorate of a stronger power, modern international law does not recognise any way of making this relationship compulsory on the weaker power. Suzerainty is a practical, de facto situation, rather than a legal, de jure one.
Current examples include Bhutan and India. India is responsible for military training, arms supplies, and the air defense of Bhutan.[3][4][5][6]